ABOUT SAM KWONG: A native of Guangzhou, Sam Kwong grew up in HongKong and immigrated to the United States in 1949. Settling in Los Angeles, California, he attended Art Center College of Design and studied photography, opening his first studio in 1959. At the time he was the only Chinese advertising photographer in the Los Angeles area.

Kwong's work for Creative Photography brought him his first award from the Los Angeles Art Directors Club, a highly-regarded professional organization which recognizes the best in advertising design and art. In 1962 he was the featured up-and-coming photographer in Art Direction Magazine of New York, a prestigious national publication. Over the years he received numerous awards for excellence in photography from the Los Angeles Art Directors Club, New York Art Directors Club, Art Direction Magazine, and Graphis Magazine. In 1975 he was given the Gold Medal Award for his work on the American Honda Motor Company ad campaign. Other major clients included Bank of America, Lockheed Aircraft, Litton Industries, Security National Bank, Princess Cruise Lines, Carnation, Continental Airlines, Yamaha, Kawazaki and Suzuki.

After a successful career in commercial photography that spanned nearly three decades, in 1988 Kwong moved to Walla Walla, Washington, a small college town. He embarked on a new career, beginning a one-man video company which produced documentary projects.

In 2001 Kwong met Zhao Wencui, a Yunnan University professor and native of Shangri-la, Yunnan province, China, who was an exchange scholar at Whitman College in Walla Walla. They were subsequently married and moved to Kunming in 2004.

Since then, two major factors have rekindled Kwong's interest in photography: the advent of digital photography as a medium, and unparalleled access to the fascinating and beautiful landscape and people of China. He has recently focused his interest on the customs and lifestyles of minority subcultures of China. He was given a successful one-man photography show in Kunming Airport Gallery in 2007. Kwong and his wife currently reside in Walla Walla.